Biography: Susan Sarandon

The extremely versatile actress Susan Sarandon brings her own brand of sex appeal and intelligence to every role – – from her fearless portrayal in “Bull Durham” to her Oscar®-nominated performances in “Thelma and Louise,” “Lorenzo’s Oil,” “The Client” and “Atlantic City,” to her Academy Award®-winning and SAG Award-winning role in “Dead Man Walking” as Sister Helen, a nun consoling a death-row inmate.

Sarandon made her acting debut in the movie “Joe,” which she followed with a continuing role in the TV drama “A World Apart.” Her early film credits include “The Great Waldo Pepper,” “Lovin’ Molly,” Billy Wilder’s “The Front Page” and the 1975 cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” In 1978 she played Brooke Shields’ mother in Louis Malle’s controversial “Pretty Baby,” and went on to receive her first Oscar® nomination in Malle’s “Atlantic City.”

On Broadway, Sarandon appeared in Gore Vidal’s “An Evening with Richard Nixon,” and received critical acclaim for her performances off-Broadway in “A Coupla of White Chicks Sitting Around Talkin’” and the thriller “Extremities.” She also appeared, off-off-Broadway, in the moving post-September 11 stage play “The Guys.” In 2009, she returned to Broadway and starred in “Exit the King” with Geoffrey Rush.

The hard-working actress has made a career of choosing diverse and challenging projects, both in film and television. In 2008 she received an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her role in the HBO film “Bernard and Doris,” as well as a Golden Globe and SAG nomination. She received an Emmy and SAG nomination for her work in Barry Levinson’s “You Don’t Know Jack“ with Al Pacino for HBO.

Sarandon starred in the 2003 CBS Movie “Ice Bound” as Dr. Jerri Nielson—based on Nielson’s real-life survival story—and as Princess Wensicia Corrino in the ScyFy Channel mini-series “Children of Dune.” Sarandon also appeared in the TV movie “The Exonerated,” directed by Bob Balaban.

She also starred in HBO’s “Earthly Possessions,” based on the Anne Tyler novel and directed by James Lapine; in the CBS movie “Women of Valor;” and the HBO mini-series “Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce,” opposite Bob Hoskins and Anthony Hopkins.

She has made guest appearances on “30 Rock” and in the “Mother Lover” video on “Saturday Night Live.”

In addition to her many on screen credits, she lent her vocal talents to the animated features “Rugrats in Paris,” “James and the Giant Peach” and “Cats & Dogs,” and provided narration to many documentaries, including Laleh Khadivi’s documentary “900 Women,” about female prison inmates.

Upcoming films include “I Hate You Dad” with Adam Sandler, “Arbitrage” with Richard Gere, “Robot and Frank” with Frank Langella, and “Cloud Atlas” with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry for the Wachowskis.

Biography/Filmography courtesy of Paramount Pictures and the film, Jeff Who Lives at Home

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